Barahin-e-Ahmadiyya Part III — Page 204
BarĀhĪn-e-a H madiyya — Part three 204 Now ponder over the fact that if ‘ilm-e-ladunn i [divinely bestowed knowledge] totally depends on conjecture, then how can we call it ‘ilm [knowledge]. Are mere conjectures of any such significance that we should designate them as ‘ilm. If that were the case, what would be the meaning of: 1 َو ُهٰنْمَّلَع ْنِم اَّنُدَّل اًمْلِع Thus, the proper study of the Word of God and hundreds of other well-attested experiences proves that when certain chosen individuals from ummat-e-Mu h ammadiyyah are wholly absorbed in their obedi- ence to their beloved Prophet and follow him in letter and in spirit, they are blessed from the blessings that he was blessed with. God does not desire them to remain in a state of unrewarded devotion. When the reflection of the blessings of prophethood falls upon a person’s heart, he is definitely endowed with true and categorical knowledge in the manner of the Prophet he follows, for the fountainhead which he has inherited is free from the contamination of doubt and ambiguity. Being an heir to the Holy Prophet demands that one must possess sure and definite inner knowledge, for how could one benefit man- kind with mere conjectures and suppositions. In that case he would be inheriting [from the Holy Prophet saw ] only partially—like someone with one eye rather than two. And when error is also at its peak, the age is full of corruption, the deniers are full of mischief, the heedless are in a deep slumber, and the opponents have become hardened in their denial, such times require that the person who is sent by God to reform these ills should possess divinely bestowed knowledge in the same way as the Prophets. These are the people who have been called amthal [the best] in the a ha d i th, and s idd i q [the Truthful] in the Holy Quran. The time of their coming, too, has a strong affinity with the time 1. And whom We had taught knowledge from Ourself ( S u rah al-Kahf , 18:66). [Publisher]